The Battle for God’s Glory among the Nations

Because the kids and I read so much together, I feel much slower in reviewing my personal reads, especially my Christian non-fiction works. I’m always reading something, though, and whenever my selection hits on the issue of missions, well, I remain inspired.

This was a book I had purchased several years ago on Kindle but hadn’t ever taken the time to read. The time was finally ripe for me this past Fall and Winter, however, with my opportunities to visit Vietnam, Myanmar, and several other Asian nations. Getting to meet in the homes of God’s faithful servants—foreigners and nationals alike—re-invigorated me:

Life is short!
If you can go into all the world, go!
If you can’t, send!

In this review of Spiritual Warfare and Missions, I will first focus on the authors and have an extracurricular discussion on discernment. I will then summarize the book through brief descriptions and a few excellent quotations.

Jerry Rankin, Ed Stetzer, and a Quick Discussion on Discernment

The authors of this book hail from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Jerry Rankin being the former President of the SBC’s International Mission Board (IMB). The book is definitely American, and its missionary jargon carries that distinct IMB flavor. Still, I find that the authors’ focus lies far beyond the scope of their denomination or Americanism, emphasizing the global reality of spiritual warfare from which missions-minded folks of all denominations can benefit.

Shortly after finishing this book, I sat down with a group of friends and described some things I had learned. One friend mentioned offhandedly how he’d lost respect for one of these authors, claiming “I hear he’s gone Pentecostal.” I won’t elaborate on hearsay, but I must admit that the comment almost deflated me. I loved this book, but suddenly I wondered: “Have I been hoodwinked?” The more I dwelt on my friend’s comment and the larger issue it represents, the more I found solace in the doctrine of adoption and the power of discernment. Let me explain with a brief backstory.

I know a twenty-something who’s fixated on exposing “false teachers” on social media and openly shunning anyone who disagrees with his impeccable “discernment.” What occurs each time we talk is an over-emphasis on the command to expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11) and a total unawareness that stirring up “rivalries, divisions, and dissentions” (Gal 5:20) is itself an unfruitful work of darkness! While I respect him for caring about how unbelievers might be duped by a false Gospel, I realize that his focus isn’t solely on false Gospels (i.e. Mormonism, works-based salvation, the Prosperity Gospel, etc.) but also on secondary differences within orthodoxy (i.e. sign gifts, female preachers, etc.). In his attempts to expose the unfruitful works of darkness, he majors on the minors, instead exposing his own pride and narrowmindedness about tertiary issues by essentially claiming: “My opinion is right, and whoever disagrees with me is a false teacher.”

I share this backstory, because my friend’s comment nearly ventured into the same narrowminded territory: he’s willing to throw this book aside, because the scuttlebutt tells him that one of the authors might have changed his views on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I honestly believe that comments like this fall under Paul’s “works of the flesh” category in Galatians 5, divisions and dissensions that promote discord and discourage unity, as if some people’s hearts can’t be warmed without friction among the brethren. This is why the doctrine of Adoption brings me solace: we’ve all come from different walks, but when we place our faith in the Gospel of Jesus as proclaimed in the Word of God, we receive the Holy Spirit, we’re adopted as sons and daughters, and we become the family of God. Brothers and sisters can disagree—we can even sometimes fight over serious issues!—yet we remain family, bound by love, and unified despite our differences, including differences in opinion about secondary and tertiary matters.

Navigating these troubled waters of determining what are the primary, secondary, and tertiary doctrines of orthodoxy requires both discernment and grace. No one but God owns the monopoly on truth, and it’s downright sinful to call anyone who disagrees with you about non-essential matters “a false teacher.” I love that Rankin and Stetzer warn about this very issue in Chapter 2:

Jesus taught a principle of spiritual warfare that cannot be overlooked. The principle is, “Do not think you are the only ones who can be successful.” Often we feel that our tribe or group has special knowledge and superiority. Christians struggle from denomination to denomination with this tendency. But most groups struggle within denominations from church to church. Even worse, most churches struggle within from group to group. If the devil can make us feel superior to other Christians, then we reduce God’s army to just a few.

Basic Chapter Summaries (with Quotations):

With that (important) discussion out of the way, I’d like now to summarize this book, chapter by chapter. The overarching theme is that Satan has a vested interest in thwarting the Church’s efforts to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). Apart from several chapters on essential issues, the authors also share eight of Satan’s strategies for preventing the Church from taking the Gospel “to the uttermost parts of the Earth.”

Chapter 1 – God’s Purpose: To Be Exalted Among the Nations

In this chapter, the authors highlight God’s Purpose in missions: his own glory. They state: “Everything created in the world should be seen in the context of existing for God’s glory.” They also warn against the danger of ethnocentricity, that we focus on our people first, and only when we’ve solved our ethnic problems can we then go out and reach people who are different from us. They write: “Acts 1:8 is prophetic and not a consent that we first behave ethnocentrically. That was Israel’s problem! And Jonah’s.” It’s prophetic, because this is how the church spread, from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and then out and out. This is not necessarily a recipe for how a local church is to begin its missions program. In fact, later in Chapter 5 they expound on this theme:

We have done a disservice to the Great Commission in categorizing our mission task in stages of concentric circles. Since Jesus noted the witness of His disciples was to begin in Jerusalem, then spread throughout Judea and into Samaria, we have presumed that we are to follow the same progression of giving priority to our “Jerusalem” where we live. Then we are to extend our witness into the province beyond our community, or throughout our state, then eventually reach a larger geographic area of North America. Like the contrast between Jews and Samaritans, we are even to share the gospel cross-culturally. Eventually we are to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Satan used the Word of God to tempt Jesus to embrace a shortcut to fulfilling His messianic task. In the same way Satan has twisted this challenging, encouraging, empowering instruction of our Lord to get us to justify the distorted priority of just reaching people where we live and ignoring the responsibility of being witnesses to the ends of the earth among all peoples. Had Jesus yielded to Satan’s deception, He would have forfeited God’s plan for world redemption. Satan deceives us into thinking we are faithfully fulfilling the mission of God when in reality we are neglecting it! … We need to overlay Acts 1:8 on Matthew 28:19–20 as to “make disciples of all nations” means wherever they are. The ends of the earth are just as much the peoples of America as peoples in remote areas of Africa or Asia. Just as the disciples did not have to leave Jerusalem to reach the peoples from the ends of the earth, we need to open our eyes to the ends of the earth that are living in our own cities and communities.

Chapter 2 – Satan’s Purpose: Oppose the Kingdom—Deprive God of the Praise and Glory Due Him

In this chapter, the authors highlight the many spiritual dangers the church has faced and will continue to face as we near the End Times. They write: “Although on a macro level the Bible assures us we win, we skip the details of the gruesome confrontations along the way to victory.” They also discuss our need for unity (as quoted in the section above) and the dangers that prevent us from fulfilling the Great Commission: “Satan does not have to tempt us to embrace sinful living; all he has to do is divert our focus.”

Chapter 3 – Understanding Satan: Adversary and Deceiver of the Nations

In this chapter, the authors share a little of their own backstories, like this poignant realization:

I realized that to expect a Muslim in Indonesia to respond to the gospel was not unlike asking a blind man to read a newspaper. The Bible provides an explanation: “Regarding them: the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

They also describe a little bit of the jargon that helps IMB missionaries focus their energies in a unified way. Take for example this description of the “Good Soil”:

Christian Swartz described the supernatural process of multiplication displayed by the Christian of good soil: Just as the true fruit of an apple tree is not an apple, but another tree; the true fruit of a small group is not a new Christian, but another group; the true fruit of a church is not a new group, but a new church; the true fruit of a leader is not a follower, but a new leader; the true fruit of an evangelist is not a convert, but new evangelists. Whenever this principle is understood and applied, the results are dramatic.

Another part of this chapter that I loved was this healthy harangue against modern worship lyrics, namely that distinctly horrible worship song, “Above All”:

It seems a tenuous balance to give out awards to Christian artists for their efforts in writing and singing music about the One who deserves all the worship and praise. Even one well-known Christian song was lauded as a work of great art when it proclaimed that God thought of mankind “above all” as He died for sins. Intentionally or unintentionally, such lyrics feed the myth that what Jesus did on the cross was “all about me.” In fact, the content of many modern Christian songs holds this juxtaposition throughout their lyrics: I will glorify God because God is glorifying me in His death. Yet the opposite is true. The defeat of every kingdom and every power was what drove Jesus to the cross. The purpose of His death was His glory and desire to be lifted up. You may think this is theological semantics. But the danger is making the story of Jesus so small and personal it can fit on a necklace worn around one’s neck.

Chapter 4 – Satan’s Strategy: Keep Nations Closed to the Gospel

This chapter begins the authors’ look into various strategies Satan has in preventing the world from every hearing the Gospel of Jesus. One is to keep countries “closed.” This is often accomplished through legal means (as in Communist nations), but can also be done through civil strife (as in many African nations) or through other religious adherences (as in many Muslim nations). They share another specific example: “In Bhutan it is necessary for one to pledge adherence to the Buddhist religion in order to buy land, get a job, or enroll children in school.”

Chapter 5 – Satan’s Strategy: Keep People Groups Hidden from Our Awareness

This was my most highlighted chapter, but I’ll share and comment on only a few.

Only recently has it been recognized…that the world is a waffle, not a pancake. If you pour syrup on a pancake, it will likely flow all over the smooth round surface, but not so with a waffle. A waffle has a multitude of small squares separated by ridges. If you want syrup on your waffle, you have to be deliberate to pour syrup into each square. The world is not made up of homogenous people who are all alike and speak the same language. The world is a vast matrix of more than eleven thousand distinct languages and cultures, separated by ethnic identity. If each one is to hear the gospel, mission efforts must be deliberate to pour the syrup of the gospel into each one in a culturally appropriate way and in a language people can understand.

I wrote a note about this passage in my Kindle: “This waffle discussion gets my fire going! What access do I have to some of those squares in the matrix, and how can I use my time, talents, funds, influence, experiences, etc. to pour the syrup of the Gospel in them??”

When we look at the overwhelming number of peoples (www.peoplegroups.org) worldwide, we should not say, “Let’s go to the nations and win souls for Jesus.” What we should say is, “Let’s go to the nations and win evangelists for Jesus.” The vision of Jesus for true engagement of the harvest is seen in Matthew, “Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:38).

Someone has said that expecting a person to cross social, cultural, racial, and linguistic barriers in order to get the gospel is like waiting for a fish to crawl out of the water in order to get to the bait on the shore.

Chapter 6 – Satan’s Strategy: Persecution of Believers and the Church

The rates of persecution against Christians are apparently higher now than they’ve ever been in history. Hindsight allows us to gain insight from the trends into Satan’s strategy. These comments on silence were especially informative:

A prominent researcher studying the persecution of Christians has come to the conclusion that Satan’s primary purpose in persecution is to deny others access to Jesus: Believers living in the midst of persecution suggest strongly that the goal of Satan is not to beat, torture or kill believers. The goal of Satan and his persecutors is to silence believers, to make them lose their voice and diminish their witness.

If a quiet but forceful word from a friend, family, or employer stifles or eliminates a faithful witness, why would Satan draw more attention to our faith by more overt persecution?

The very concept of such personal persecution turns my blood. Believers in persecuted lands need encouragement that they’re not alone in the world. They need to be aware that their silence is Satan’s goal, not necessarily their pain or their deaths. They need to hear it. They need to remember it. They need to keep speaking the Truth and sharing the Gospel! And we in our freedom need to do that same!

Chapter 7 – Satan’s Strategy: Convince Christians Missions Is Optional

In this chapter, the authors bring the issue closer to home. Just as those in persecuted lands need to keep sharing the Gospel, so too must we. They warn of what can happen when a church’s ministry gets more focused on pleasing the sheep in the fold rather than rescuing more lost sheep.

When priority is given to comfortable facilities and convenient activities benefitting the community of the redeemed rather taking the gospel to a lost world, you have located a “missions-optional” church.

Paul described the confidence of God this way: “Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but rather God, who examines our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4). The word entrusted in this passage is normally used from us to God (John 3:16). It sounds right that we are the ones who do the “believing.” But Paul was talking about God’s confidence in His people. God believes in you! What a sacred responsibility!”

Chapter 8 – Satan’s Strategy: Erode the Authority of God’s Word

This is an issue nearly 200 years in the making, to destroy our confidence in the inerrancy of Scripture or our responsibility to obey it. The authors write of our pick-and-choose approach to the Word:

We readily accept the Scriptures that affirm our salvation and the grace of God forgiving our sin. We latch on to Jesus saying, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We claim Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” We choose to identify with every promise of blessing and any passage guaranteeing the benefits that accrue to being a Christian. But we readily overlook those passages that hold us responsible for God’s mission. We rationalize that the call of God to go to the nations only applies to those with a unique calling to become “professional missionaries”—whatever that means.

Chapters 9-12

I’ve already written too much. I’d hate to remove anyone’s desire to read the book for themselves, so I’ll only name the final four chapters and encourage you to find the book and read it yourself:

• Chapter 9 – Satan’s Strategy: Distort the Call of God
• Chapter 10 – Satan’s Strategy: Erode the Faith of God’s People
• Chapter 11 – Satan’s Strategy: Destroy the Spiritual Vitality of the Church
• Chapter 12 – The Final Victory: Will We Be Found Faithful?

Conclusion

I’ve considered taking local American pastors with me whenever I visit the various mission fields in Asia so that they can see the needs firsthand. But I’ve also honestly been hesitant to do this, because I’ve sort of feared stealing them away from the ministry to which God has called them! But this book reminded me that God doesn’t necessarily call someone to do the one specific thing, day-in and day-out, world-without-end. When talking about our purpose in life, the question isn’t, “What does God want me to do with my life?” or “What does God want our church to do?” The question is simply, “What does God want?” The answer is simple: He wants to be glorified among the nations. What are you and I doing to accomplish that goal?

This book was an inspiring, invigorating read. If it doesn’t convince a local pastor to resign and move overseas, then it’ll at least convince him and the church of the global need and the spiritual war that’s constantly raging. I’ve been inspired by it, and I hope you will be as well.

©2024 E.T.

Read More from Ed Stetzer:

• Breaking the Missional Code (2006)
• Planting Missional Churches (2006)
• 11 Innovations in the Local Church (2007)
• Spiritual Warfare and Missions (2010)
• Christ-Centered Preaching and Teaching (2013, Ed.)